مصر موتورز مجتمع السيارات - ارشيف احداث عام 2009

<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1964_Mustang_convertible_ t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.When Ford unveiled the Mustang 45 years ago today, company execs figured they’d sell maybe 100,000 a year.

They sold 22,000 on the first day.

The Mustang was more than a success. It was a phenomenon. Ford sold 1 million in the first 18 months, making the Mustang its most successful launch since the Model A.

"When the <a href="http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/04/dayintech_0417">Mustang was unveiled</a>, the reaction was so positive that there was no doubt it was going to be a success," chief designer Joe Oros said recently.

The Mustang created an entirely new genre called the pony car. Relatively small, relatively light and often absurdly powerful, pony cars were uniquely American. By 1967, everyone in Detroit offered one.

Pony cars like the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger have come and gone and come back again, but only the Mustang has galloped along uninterrupted since its introduction.

Ford has sold more than 9 million Mustangs. Here’s a look at some of the best and a few of the worst.

<h3>Left: 1964½ Coupe</h3>
The shot that started the pony-car revolution. The Mustang sold for a dirt-cheap $2,368 (about $16,000 in today's moolah), which bought you a hardtop coupe with a straight-six and a three-speed manual. But with the longest list of options Detroit had ever offered, you could get yours pretty much any way you wanted.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1966_Mustang_Shelby_GT350 H_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Ford joined legendary gearhead Carroll Shelby to develop the high-performance Shelby GT models. Shelby, in turn, struck a deal with Hertz to build 1,000 rental cars based on the GT350. The GT350-H became known as the "rent-a-racer," because they often appeared in Sports Car Club of America events. So many of them came back with burned out clutches that Shelby ditched the four-speed manual transmission for an automatic.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1968_Mustang_Bullitt_Fast back_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.The Mustang became a pop cultural icon when it appeared in one of the first – and one of the best – movie car chases ever: Steve McQueen’s dash through San Francisco in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062765/"><cite>Bullitt</cite></a>. The car (actually, Ford provided two) was a 1968 GT with a 390-cubic-inch engine and beefed-up suspension and brakes. It topped 110 mph during filming, which took more than three weeks and yielded 9 minutes, 42 seconds of automotive awesomeness.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1971_Mustang_Boss_351_t.j pg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Mustangs grew bigger and heavier every year, and the '71 to '73 models were the biggest of the lot. Ford introduced the Boss performance package in 1969, creating the Boss 302 to compete in the Trans Am Series, and the Boss 429 for NASCAR. The 351 sort of split the difference in 1971, and some consider it Ford’s muscle-car masterpiece.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1974_MustangII_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.The oil embargo, skyrocketing insurance costs and ever-tighter emissions controls forced Ford to radically rework the Mustang. The result was a gelding based on the Pinto. Although much-maligned over the years by purists, Ford sold nearly 386,000 of them in 1974 alone, and <cite>Motor Trend</cite> named it car of the year.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1976_Mustang_CobraII_t.jp g'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Hoping to boost sales, Ford slathered the Mustang II with a fake hood scoop, useless spoilers and more stripes than a prison chain gang. Ford called it the Cobra II, but it had less bite than a garter snake.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1979_Mustang_PaceCar_t.jp g'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Ford gave the third-gen Mustang a sleeker, more European look in 1979 to create a car that was bigger – but lighter – than the model that preceded it. Ford sold 370,000 of them in the first year, and the Mustang served as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500. Ford commemorated the honor with a run of about 11,000 “Pace Car” editions.
Ford didn't tell us these guys are, but they could pass for the Brooks Brothers racing team.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1984_Mustang_SVO_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Ford launched the Special Vehicle Operations Department in 1981 to oversee racing and build limited-edition, high-performance cars. The first was the 1984 Mustang SVO, a four-cylinder turbocharged model with nimble handling and decent power. It would smoke the Mustang GT in the curves, but it cost several grand more and didn’t sell well. Ford retired it after the 1986 model year. <img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1993_Mustang_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.The third-generation Mustang got a serious face lift in 1987, trading sharp angles for rounded edges and a more aerodynamic look. The cars grew increasingly powerful, but by 1990 Ford was looking ahead to the next generation and made few changes before retiring the third-gen 'stang in 1993 after an unprecedented 15-year run.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/1994_Mustang_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.By the early 1990s, some at Ford felt the Mustang should be put out to pasture. Instead, the company updated the original’s styling. The car was a hit, and Ford couldn’t build 'em fast enough. The car got a minor restyling that gave it a more aggressive look. Performance climbed as well, topping out at 390 horsepower for the 2004 Cobra.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/2008_Mustang_Shelby_GT500 KR_t.jpg'></img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Ford had a long history of building insanely powerful Mustangs, and the Shelbys of the early '60s are among the best. Ford paid homage to them in 2007 with the Shelby GT500, and then upped the ante a year later with the GT500-KR. The supercharged beast produced 540 horsepower, making it the most powerful Mustang ever. With a list price just shy of $80,000, it was also the most expensive.<img src='http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2009/04/gallery_mustang/10MUSTANG_DSC3828_t.jpg'> </img>: Photo: Ford Motor Co.Ford, like Chevrolet with the new Camaro and Dodge with the new Challenger, went back to the future for the latest iteration of its venerable pony car. The 2010 Mustang draws styling cues from the classic models of the 1960s. The Shelby GT500 draws even more deeply from that well, proving that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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